The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain
Week commencing 8th February 2019

No To US Troops In Venezuela!

By New Worker correspondent

TENSION is rising amidst reports that the Americans are planning an invasion to topple Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government and get their greedy hands on Venezuela’s oil and gold reserves. Senator Marco Rubio and other reactionary American politicians are calling on the Venezuelan army to overthrow Maduro and replace him with their chosen pawn, Juan Guaidó. And Donald Trump’s top aide, John Bolton, was seen last week holding a notepad that read: “5,000 troops to Colombia.

Others believe this is all part of a propaganda offensive designed to destabilise the Maduro government and boost the flagging fortunes of Venezuelan politicians already in the pocket of Washington.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is upholding the legitimacy of the recent presidential election and has dismissed imperialist demands for fresh elections. He says that he’s going to stay in office for the next six years regardless of the recognition of opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s “interim president” by the USA and a number of its allies and lackeys.

The government and the people are preparing for anything the Americans may throw at them. Last weekend Maduro said: “If we want peace, we should be ready to protect it,” and millions of working people have taken to the streets of the capital, Caracas, to demonstrate their support for the Bolivarian revolution. Many are also joining the people’s militia, which will be two million strong by May this year.
Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn has come out in support of Maduro. Last weekend the Labour leader said that intervention in Venezuela and the call for sanctions against the government of Nicolas Maduro was “wrong” and that only Venezuelans have the right to decide their own destiny.
“The future of Venezuela is a matter for Venezuelans. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s call for more sanctions on Venezuela is wrong,” Corbyn said. “We oppose outside interference in Venezuela, whether from the US or anywhere else. There needs to be dialogue and a negotiated settlement to overcome the crisis.”

The western European powers have closed ranks around Anglo-American and Franco-German imperialism to recognise Guaidó.
So have a number of their lackeys and pawns in Latin America. But only one African state, Morocco, has joined them and the only one in Asia is, unsurprisingly, Israel.

The Bolivarian revolution isn’t without allies however. Russia, People’s China, Cuba, India, Democratic Korea and Laos are all backing Maduro, along with a number of other countries in Latin America, Asia and Europe.

American diplomatic efforts to get the European Union (EU) as a whole to throw its weight behind the Venezuelan opposition were thwarted last week by the Italians, who vetoed a proposed EU statement recognising Guaidó as the interim President of Venezuela. This follows similar defeats at the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the United Nations.

This week UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres endorsed the representation of the legitimate Venezuelan government and rejected the pretension of the American puppet who proclaimed himself “president in charge” on 23rd January. Guterres said he hoped no foreign forces will enter Venezuela, stressing that the days of foreign intervention ”
in Latin America are “long ago gone”. The UN Secretary-General said his office was ready to mediate to end the crisis, and called for all relevant parties to commit to an inclusive and credible political dialogue

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